The McKenzie River Valley Market Company was formed in August 1995 at Blue River, Oregon. It is an expansion of a one-product line of leather goods designed by the founder, Daniel David Lewis Frommherz. The first pairs made by Mr. Frommherz were made in 1989 in a very loose company organization. All the products made up to that time were for friends who admired his original set.

Daniel has created the design of his product. He then markets and sells his products at local area festivals, mail order, road side rest areas and soon they will be introduced to customers on the Internet. He is interested in selecting franchised retailers with outlets where he would not create unfair competition against that market. The design has changed some but not much over the years since he started making copies of his grandfather's braces. The metal appointments on the hardware and functionally different designs for use by men, women and children have created the only visible difference. He created and plans to market a, "do it yourself kit", containing all the materials for each design in the near future.

Mr. Frommherz comes from a very long line of excellent leather workers dating back to the original expansion of our country even before the Revolutionary War with England. In Eleven generations the family built the barrels for tanning as Cordwainers. In several generations they sewed the leather into shoes and built the harness for the horses or oxen in moving west. In the Northeast generation upon generation expanded from Massachusetts in New England to the Hudson in New York. They were veterans of both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The benefits gave them donation land claims first in New York then on to Ohio and eventually on land in Oregon. Once in Ohio they made shoes and Harness in preparation for the greatest migration on the Oregon Trail. In Oregon they tanned leather on Tanners Creek, which is now inner Southwest Portland at 21st and Burnside near the northwest corner of King's Hill. There the family created the first fashionable district for its citizens to call home then named it King's Hill. Mr. Frommherz's second great grand uncle made the statement "A Great City will be known for the quality of its parks", as he sold a portion of his original claim to the young city of Portland naming the area Washington Park. While most of the family returned to King's Valley in Benton County where they remain today, investments by the King family there caused the United States National Bank of Oregon to begin operation. The first sheriff of Benton County comes from this family. Solomon King owned two livery stables. One was located where Gill Coliseum on the Oregon State University Campus now stands. It was from this Livery stable that harness and tack were made for the benefit of the citizens of Corvallis, Lewisburg, Wren, Philomath, Belfountain, Alsea, and Monroe. Buyers came from afar to purchase the best products made from such high quality leather.

The hired liverymen were known to have made their own Leather Suspenders. After he had cut the necessary materials for his livery harness work he used the leftover strap leather for creating those suspenders. His diary notes his private sales. He etched the sizing for his products on the hitching rails, nineteen pieces of leather each with a distinct function. This allowed individual sizes for a small child to an above average adult. These suspenders were built to last. At times a piece might fail for some odd reason by design it could be replaced with another section.

Adolph Joseph Frommherz bartered for the material to make them or purchased a pair of these suspenders from the King livery stable in Corvallis between 1897and 1903. He was not married at the time and he had just sworn his oath as a new citizen of this United States of America. He was just seven years on American soil, coming from the village of Egg, Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany . He said to his daughter years later that he knew quality when he saw it. Grandpa wore his pair of suspenders for nearly 50 years until his death in late November 1950. Seven years after he acquired those suspenders he married the granddaughter of the owner to the livery stable.

Daniel saw those suspenders on his first meeting with his grandfather. He was 2 or 3 years old at the time and although the meeting was in his words "fuzzy" he remembers those suspenders and the kindly man distinctly in his cherished memories. He states that he heard about them many times as a young man growing up in a tight knit family. "I knew that I wanted a pair for myself but I thought they had placed those suspenders on him when preparing his remains for the funeral. I have searched many years for a similar pair discovering that this type could not be found. I asked other family members about those suspenders thinking that maybe someone knew more. One day my question resolved that age-old question. The daughter of my grandfather Adolph who cared for him in his final years told me one day in 1989; "I put them in pop's trunk". Would you really want to see those old things they are out in the cellar with all the other discarded things this family no longer has any use for. With glee I found and opened the trunk to discover to my amazement those suspenders in very good condition. I tried them on hooking the mustache to my belt loops, as I didn't have buttons on my jeans. I asked to have them for myself and was given the pair immediately. I marked the design on wood as I was pressing for more information. I then upgraded to a finished product noting that with a size change here and there I could fit anyone. I believe the upgrade should last as long as the original pair if cared for properly."